Germany's AfD wins over 40% in Saxony-Anhalt state election

'Best postwar result for a far-right party in Nazi-scarred Germany'

Discontent over immigration, economic policy fuels rise

Major European elections next year put continent on edge

AfD supporters celebrate the party's election victory. [AFP/Yonhap]
AfD supporters celebrate the party's election victory. [AFP/Yonhap]

Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party recorded more than 40 percent of the vote in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, sending shockwaves across Europe.

Although it is a regional contest and the AfD fell short of an outright majority — leaving its path to governing the state uncertain — analysts say the result will intensify pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz's federal government. That a far-right party achieved its best postwar result in a country still shaped by the trauma of the Nazi era is being read as a sign that mainstream centrist parties have repeatedly failed to address public frustration over immigration and economic policy, and that far-right forces are edging ever closer to the center of European power.

The New York Times called the outcome "a signal to Europe," writing that "rarely does a single regional election get read as an omen for the fate of European democracy." The BBC said the political turmoil "will further weaken and distract Germany, the EU's most powerful nation, at a time of continent-wide crisis as Europe struggles with Russian aggression, US President Donald Trump's erratic tariffs and China's economic threat."

The timing is particularly significant, as a string of major elections looms across Europe. In France, far-right National Rally lawmaker Marine Le Pen leads the field for next year's presidential election by a wide margin over left-wing and centrist rivals. Philippe Marlière, a professor at University College London, told The New York Times that in both France and Germany "the anti-fascist front that has dominated society since World War II is on the verge of collapse."

In Spain, where a general election is also due next year, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's left-wing government has been rattled by corruption scandals, and the far-right Vox party has kept up its momentum. Vox leader Santiago Abascal hailed the AfD's victory as "great hope for Germany and Europe." In Poland, far-right candidates together drew more than 21 percent of the vote in last year's presidential election, while in Italy and Britain, new far-right parties positioning themselves to the right of existing conservative movements are gaining ground.

For the EU, the rise of nationalist parties threatens to erode European cohesion at a moment of intense external pressure. The bloc views unity as essential to counter Trump's tariff threats, Russia's security challenge and China's flood of cheap exports — yet the AfD and most other nationalist parties are skeptical of European integration. Many far-right parties also oppose military support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, drawing suspicions of pro-Kremlin sympathies.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russia's sovereign wealth fund, called the AfD's victory "historic" and said Merz had been "humiliated."


won@heraldcorp.com